by Richard Lynn Perkins and Beverly Gayle Perkins Shumway
Richard Perkins has a rich San Juan County heritage. His parents, Hyrum Corry Perkins and Mary Kisten Adams were both born and raised in Bluff, Utah.
When they were 16 years old, they each finished an 8th grade education, which was the highest grade available in Bluff, and continued their education for four years at Brigham Young Academy (which eventually became Brigham Young University).
Corry, Richard’s dad, played on the BYA basketball team for four years before being called to serve a mission to New Zealand for four more years. Kisten also graduated from BYA a few years later and married Corry after he returned from his mission in 1913.
The family moved to Blanding in 1917 where they built a big, brick and rock home (now occupied by Stan & Angela Hurst’s family (2025) 100 W 200 S). Richard’s family raised sheep and cattle.
Richard Corry was the 7th of 9 children and was born August 18, 1928, weighing ten pounds. The first heartbreak of many for the family was when the oldest daughter, Merlene, 15 years old, died of pneumonia.
A few years later, Bruce, the oldest son fell out of a tree in front of the house and broke his arm which became full of gangrene and caused his death. Richard was 11 years old when his father, Corry died of heart failure at the age of 54 years old, leaving Kisten to raise the remaining seven children.
Another heartbreak for the family was when Richard’s younger brother, Dean, died when he was 12 years old. Other siblings were Margaret, Dorothy, Beverly, Calvin and Jimmy.
After playing basketball at San Juan High School, Richard attended Brigham Young University, tried out for BYU basketball and played on the freshman team.
His college basketball career was cut short when he was drafted into the Army. He was assigned to Fort Lawton in Seattle, Washington where his athleticism was utilized.
He played on the Fort’s baseball, basketball and football teams, saving him from other regular Army duties and from being deployed to the Korean War theater.
He had about 4 months left in the Army when he married EveLynn Palmer on Oct. 17, 1952. After he was discharged from the Army, he and his new wife, on their way back to Blanding, joined the Grayson Ward M-Men basketball team in Salt Lake City, who had qualified for the All-Church Tournament by winning the regional meet in Spanish Fork that year. They got beat in their first game by the team that took the championship, however, they won consolation.
Just to give you a perspective of the church sponsored M- Men All-Church basketball tournament – It began in 1922, a full 17 years before the first NCAA Men’s basketball tourney.
The “All-Church “tournament soon grew, reaching 10,000 young men competing by the mid-1930’s. For comparison, today’s NCAA features almost 19,000 men’s basketball players.
But at the Division 1 level- that is, the teams eligible for March Madness- there are only 5,510 by the most recent count, meaning that the young men competing for a spot in the All-Church tournament back then nearly doubled the amount seeking March Madness glory today.
The Church’s tournament was incredibly popular and the championship games were often televised. Some said that playing church ball was better than high school basketball because there was the possibility of advancing to the All-Church Tournament.
To be eligible for a team, you had to live in the ward boundaries and go to church at least twice a month. Two non-members were allowed on each team and they had to go to church too. Players moved across town or were recruited from other towns just to be in ward boundaries for competition’s sake.
The competing teams had to be the best in their stake, then the best in their region, then the best in their zone to reach the All-Church level.
It became a phenomenon all its own, the tournament was emblematic of an era marked by robust community life; a time when youth sports weren’t pay-to-play and supposedly “amateur” college sports didn’t reek of corporate cash and swollen administrator pockets.
It was recreation for recreation’s sake, however there was a great deal of community pride regarding their athletic recognition. It was part of the LDS culture and trophies were proudly displayed in glass cases in church buildings.
During its Golden Age in the 1950s and ‘60s This tournament brought together ward teams from across the United States, Canada, and Mexico, with only the elite earning a trip to Salt Lake City for the main event in March.
Billed as “The World’s Largest Basketball Tournament,” Even World War II failed to stop the tournament, though it limited the number of teams that participated.
The church paid for travel, accommodation and even some meals for the teams; some expenses were recouped in ticket sales.
The main reason for the end of the All-Church tournament in 1971 was because the church was simply becoming too big, shifting from an American institution focused in Salt Lake City to an international faith with followers across the world.
After playing his first year, Richard said the team started to take M-Men basketball seriously. LaRay Alexander was the coach, he lined up games for the team all year before the tournament with Junior colleges and tournaments around the area.
In the 1953-54 tournament they played 35 games and won 34 of them! They were in the semi-finals of the All-Church tournament for the next 4 years. They won the tournament in 1954 and Richard received the MVP trophy and was presented with a gold watch. The team photo was featured on the cover of the Church News.
When Grayson Ward in Blanding went to play in the 1954 tournament in Provo, one member was assigned to call home with results. Blanding city had a single telephone operator who could spread the news, and to avoid piling up long-distance charges, the caller and operator worked out a verbal shorthand. The caller would simply say two numbers. The first would be Blanding’s score. The second was the opponents.
In 1955, the team took second place, losing to the Provo 13th Ward. In 1956, they took eighth place and lost to Plain City, who had a real big player named Burt Cook who played college and professional basketball previously.
Richard was named to the All-Church Tournament Team four years in a row, 1953-56.
Team players on the 1954 championship team were Conrad Rowley, Dudley Rowley, Glen Shumway, Eugene Shumway, Neldon Cochran, Richard Perkins, Dee Hancock, Harold Lyman and Glen Nazer.
Other Blanding basketball players Richard played with on church and city teams were John Hurst, Bud Neilson, Joe Neilson, Lisle Adams, Calvin Perkins, Kay Bradford, Kent Black, Calvin Butt, and Glen Rupp.
Richard and EveLynn built a home and raised their six children in Blanding; Beverly Gayle (Loyd Shumway), Andrea (Brad Hall), Richard Lynn (Karen Halterman), Eric Bruce (Angie Adams), Gina Cori (Scott Harrison), and Terry Burnhard.
Richard spoke Navajo, which helped communicate with his Navajo sheep herders: Bob Lansing and his boys, John and Raymond Phillips, Raymond Sam, Shorty Wegans, Charley Blue Eyes, Sitnagini, Jimmie Morgan, Jack Fisher, Bobby Antez and Louie Atencio.
After Richard got out of the sheep business, he started buying calves and running them a year before selling them. There was a sale barn in Cortez where he bought cattle.
For a few years, he went to old Mexico and bought calves from traders along the border. One year about 50 Mexican steers he brought to Colorado died in a snowstorm.
Some of the cowboys that helped on the ranch: Tim and Diane Shmitt, Dennis Guymon, Bruce Tojer and Don Tojer, Art and Ruth Mckelvey, Casy Bennett and Eric Bayles.
In 2011, Richard was named San Juan Conservation District Rancher of the year. One San Juan rancher said that Richard had real good cattle and horses and most ranchers only have one or the other.
Horse racing became an exciting and successful venture; Richard won races in tracks at San Juan downs in Farmington, New Mexico and Uranium Downs in Grand Junction Colorado.
Richard still loves sports and has played on city basketball and baseball teams. He plays some ball with his grandkids, even teaching them his famous hook shot. He is an avid fan of the San Juan Broncos, the BYU Cougars and the Utah Jazz.
Richard is still enjoying the home that he and EveLynn built. He exercises every day and reads the San Juan Record. He will tell you that he knows more people in the Blanding cemetery than he knows in town these days.
Sports and Spurs Part Two Richard Corry Perkins turned 97 on August 18
